ECR Minerals plc (LON: ECR), the gold exploration and development company focussed on Australia, is pleased to announce strategic licence applications with a view to adding new exploration opportunities in Queensland, Australia.
Three Exploration Permits in Application (“EPM”) licences have been submitted in North Queensland, Australia with all three EPM licences are held under LUX Exploration Pty Ltd “LUX” which is a 100%-owned Australian subsidiary of ECR Minerals.
Craig Brown, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“The strong cash position enjoyed by ECR Minerals has not only enabled us to launch aggressive drilling programmes across our existing properties, but has also facilitated full utilisation of in-house and advisory resources to identify, investigate and acquire new opportunities to expand our Australian exploration portfolio. Today’s announcement manifestly demonstrates that capability.
We are currently operating two diamond drill rigs at the Bailieston and Creswick projects in Victoria, Australia, both of which are delivering considerable amounts of drill core for technical review, processing and assay testing.
We believe the ongoing drilling operations and the upcoming implementation of drilling across multiple high-profile gold targets will expose ECR to potential new gold discoveries.
We also look forward to providing further information from the new Queensland Australia licence applications, which we believe offer significant potential for precious and base metal discoveries in an area of Australia where multiple large-scale discoveries have already been made.
Exploration work across Australia continues apace and we expect to provide further operational updates in the near term”
THE APPLICATION AREA
- Three Exploration Permits in application (EPM 27901, 27902 and 27903); representing 300 sub-blocks covering a total 900 km2of highly prospective ground located within the Lolworth Range, 200km WSW of Townsville and 30km north from Pentlands, North Queensland Australia.
EXPLORATION POTENTIAL
- The application area contains metamorphic rocks of the Charters Towers Province, that host historical large gold producing centres such as Charters Tower (6.6M Oz Au) and Ravenswood (>1M Oz Au). The structural and basement geology is poorly understood in the area suggesting finding new deposits are possible.
- The area also contains reported rhyolitic volcanics which play host to intrusion-related breccia gold deposits in the region such as Mount Leyshon (>2.5M oz) and Mount Wright (>1M oz). (see Figure 1 below).
- Desktop study of historic exploration data from the late 1980’s revealed highly anomalous gold stream sediment sample results within the applied areas.
- The application area is encompassed on the southern boundary by rich alluvial gold deposits of the Cape River and Gorge Creek area, which drain the southern Lolworth Range.
- The east boundary of EPM27902 and EPM27903 is bordered by current exploration permits exploring the Lolworth dyke swarm; a north-west trending system of rhyolitic dykes and small breccia pipes containing gold, copper and molybdenum.
- Historic samples also highlighted tin-tungsten mineralisation in the western areas of EPM27902 (see Figure 2). Reports show no detailed follow-up work has been undertaken.
Figure 1: Location of EPM27901, 27902 and 27903 and nearby gold deposits and towns.
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/figure1_Lux.jpg
EXPLORATION OUTLINE
- Research reveals little mineral exploration work has been done within the Lolworth Range. Access, company specific targeted ore-deposit styles and price of metals reflect the efforts of past exploration. The most detailed exploration work undertaken within the application area would have been under AP4855M (A.R.I Limited) during the 1987-88 period. The work this company undertook is one of the main reasons for the current application area. A.R.I undertook a major stream sediment program within the drainage of the Lolworth Range via helicopter access. This work highlighted seven gold anomalous areas worth following up. Rock chips also demonstrated the perspectivity of the region with elevated gold in association with rhyolites and breccias. Eleven watersheds showed visible gold in pan concentrates. Highlights from this historic exploration work are shown on (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Plan of EPM application area showing historic stream sediment sampling results.
https://www.ecrminerals.com/images/figure2_Lux.jpg
- Initial exploration likely to include confirmation of existing stream sampling anomalies to potential watersheds, followed up by soil and rock chip sampling of ridgelines that are above these anomalous watersheds. The outcome of this work will delineate worthy drill targets.
- Once licence applications have been approved, LUX Exploration Pty Ltd. will have initially 5 years to complete the planned exploration program, with right to apply for permit extensions for up to a total of 15 years. LUX Exploration will need to extinguish 50% of the initial application area after 5 years.
REVIEW OF ANNOUNCEMENT BY QUALIFIED PERSON
This announcement has been reviewed by Adam Jones, a director of ECR Minerals plc. Adam Jones is a professional geologist and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG). He is a qualified person as that term is defined by the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies.
MARKET ABUSE REGULATIONS (EU) No. 596/2014
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 (MAR). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service (RIS), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
| ECR Minerals plc | Tel: +44 (0)20 7929 1010 | ||
| David Tang, Non-Executive Chairman | |||
| Craig Brown, Director & CEO | |||
| Email: | |||
| Website: www.ecrminerals.com | |||
| WH Ireland Ltd | Tel: +44 (0)207 220 1666 | ||
| Nominated Adviser | |||
| Katy Mitchell / James Sinclair-Ford
Novum Securities Limited Broker Jon Belliss |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7399 9425 | ||
| SI Capital Ltd | Tel: +44 (0)1483 413500 | ||
| Broker |
Nick Emerson
ABOUT ECR MINERALS PLC
ECR Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company. ECR’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary Mercator Gold Australia Pty Ltd (“MGA”) has 100% ownership of the Bailieston and Creswick gold projects in central Victoria, Australia, and two licence applications lodged in eastern Victoria for the Tambo gold project.
MGA is currently drilling at both the Bailieston and Creswick projects and has an experienced exploration team with significant local knowledge in the Victoria Goldfields and wider region.
Following the sale of the Avoca, Moormbool and Timor gold projects in Victoria, Australia to Fosterville South Exploration Ltd (TSX-V: FSX) and the subsequent spin-out of the Avoca and Timor projects to Leviathan Gold Ltd (TSX-V: LVX), MGA has the right to receive up to A$2 million in payments subject to future resource estimation or production at any of those projects.
ECR has earned a 25% interest in the Danglay gold project, an advanced exploration project located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines, and holds a royalty on the SLM gold project in La Rioja Province, Argentina